“Jainism” comes from the word “Jina.”

• Jina means “victor” – one who has conquered inner enemies like anger, ego, greed, deceit, attachment, and hatred.
• Jain means a follower of the Jinas (Tirthankars).
• Jainism therefore means:

In simple words: Jainism is a spiritual path that teaches us to avoid harming any living being, control our thoughts, speech and actions, reduce attachments, and gradually free the soul from karma so it can attain eternal peace and bliss.

You can read more about basic principles of Jainism here: